Top stories of 2017: Scherzer wins another Cy Young

As we count down the final days of 2017, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. We'll reveal two per day through New Year's Eve, continuing right now with ...

No. 3: Scherzer wins another Cy Young

Seven-year contracts for pitchers are supposed to be dangerous. Few have ever worked out as initially hoped.

Max Scherzer still has four years remaining on his seven-year, $210 million deal with the Nationals. But three years in, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who isn't thrilled with the result.

Scherzer has been everything the Nats could have asked for - and more. And his latest season in D.C. may well have been his best. Despite a variety of nagging ailments along the way, he went 16-6 with a career-best 2.51 ERA and 0.902 WHIP. In the process, he won his second consecutive Cy Young Award and third of his career.

How significant is that? Well, Scherzer is only the 10th pitcher in baseball history to win the Cy Young three times. Seven of the others (Randy Johnson, Steve Carlton, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaver and Jim Palmer) are in the Hall of Fame. The eighth, Clayton Kershaw, will join them in Cooperstown some day. And the ninth, Roger Clemens, would already be enshrined if not for allegations of steroids use.

Scherzer can't pose for any bronze plaques just yet. He still has plenty of career in front of him, and he'll need to at least remain a quality pitcher for several more years to seal his case. But he's well on his way, and that's because he has elevated his game to even loftier heights since joining the Nationals.

What separates Scherzer from the rest of the pack is his competitive drive. Even after winning the Cy Young one year ago, he insisted he wanted to be better in 2017. He did just that, overcoming a fractured knuckle suffered in spring training that forced him to alter his grip, then minor injuries to his knee, neck, calf and hamstring during the season.

Not that everything was perfect this year. Though he was brilliant in his Game 3 start at Wrigley Field in the National League Division Series, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Scherzer played a huge role in the Nats' Game 5 loss. Summoned out of the bullpen to pitch the top of the fifth, he turned a 4-3 lead into a 7-4 deficit amid a flurry of hits, errors, hit batters and walks.

That left a sour taste in his mouth as his season came to an end. A sour taste Scherzer intends to use as motivation heading into 2018.

"You've got to get better every single year," he said earlier this month. "It doesn't matter. It's a new year; you have to find a way to improve yourself. You have to look back on everything that you've done and critique yourself and find the holes in your game that you can continue to get better."

At this point, does anyone out there doubt he will do just that?